HISTORY

Lance Norris started his career as an entertainer in his teens guessing people’s age and weight on the midway at Paragon Park on Nantasket Beach in Massachusetts. When Norris started giving chilling accurate cold readings to passers by, the amusement park owner, Chester Albright, accused him of practicing Kabala (long before Madonna made it socially acceptable) and he was summarily fired.

Having already developed his skills in subliminal persuasion, Norris next began working as a solo Three Card Monte dealer at Park Street Station in Boston, at a time when Three Card Monte gangs were running ramped in the Public Gardens. Norris’ game was unique because he did not rely on helpers to hustle the card players. He would dupe suckers out of their money with pure skill and guile. Of course, it was still illegal and Norris soon left the streets of Boston for greener pastures.

He left for Washington State where he studied briefly with world-renowned peyote expert Ted Anderson. Then he kicked around the Caribbean for six months learning what he could about West African Voodun and Santaria. After touring extensively in the United States, using Denver, CO as his base of operations; Norris headed out to the People’s Republic of China where he was a lecturer at the Chengdu University of Science and Technology for one year and then he headed for Tibet, where he is believed to be the first Westerner to have preformed a mentalism show in Lhasa.

While in Tibet the Red Army slaughtered over 300 monks and the US Consulate advised all Westerners to head directly to Beijing for safety. However, Norris sensed that there was something wrong in the capital and headed, instead, for Hong Kong. While he was loading up on cheap silk suits and fake Rolexes, the rest of his traveling party ran head first into what has become known as the Tiananmen Square Protest, where another untold thousands were killed.

Norris is the author of over 30 books. He has appeared on the pages of Entertainment Weekly and People Magazine. On TV’s 20/20 program and as an actor he can be seen the major motion pictures MYSTIC RIVER, THE HEAT. THE JUDGE, GLORY and many others. He was also The SWAT Team Leader on the Fox TV show AGAINST THE LAW and worked briefly as a stuntman until he shattered his leg in a fight scene gone wrong.

For many years Norris worked as head writer/voice talent for Charles Laquidara’s Big Mattress show on WBCN in Boston and co-hosted a morning show with comedian Steve Sweeney on sister station WZLX. It was here that Norris developed what has become known as Rock & Roll Mentalism. A form he still practices at the occasional corporate show or one-night stand today.